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Wilhelm Strasse (MachineGames)
Obergruppenführer (formerly Oberführer) Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse is a leading member of the German Armed Forces, a gifted researcher and doctor who heads the SS Special Projects Division. He is the arch-nemesis of the series' protagonist William J. Blazkowicz and doubles as the main antagonist of the new timeline. ''Return to Castle Wolfenstein'' Oberführer Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse was the man behind the creations of both the Lopers and the Übersoldaten; towering cyborg soldiers that were heavily armed and armored. Unlike the other SS antagonists, Deathshead is not keenly interested in the occult and would prefer to arm the Nazi war machine using advanced technology, but has been ordered to provide his creations to Operation Resurrection by Heinrich Himmler himself. He is first encountered in the Secret Weapon Facility. Himmler has also asked him to join the resurrection ceremony but Deathshead declined due to his lack of care in the occult. Deathshead continuously taunts Blazkowicz during his duel in the lab with an Übersoldat, while commenting on the perceived superiority of his creation. After the protagonist wins the fight, Deathshead narrowly escapes in a rocket plane and goes into hiding, and not to be seen again for the rest of the story. ''Wolfenstein'' Wilhelm Strasse, for some reason, was demoted to Obersturmführer (as seen on his collar). He is revealed to be the main antagonist of the game. Many believed he had been summoned from Berlin to replace the deceased Obergruppenführer Viktor Zetta, as it was apparent that Deathshead had immediately resumed the latter's research into Veil technology in order to create new weaponry. *Based on some of the letters from Central Command, however, it can be surmised that Zetta was actually Deathshead's subordinate, and that Strasse himself had been in charge of the operation for a long time, as the real mastermind behind the projects. Employing the formidable Hans Grosse as his bodyguard, Deathshead orchestrated the capture of Kreisau Circle leader Caroline Becker and held her hostage at his castle base. While constructing a Veil Portal, Deathshead had the opportunity to exact revenge on Blazkowicz as he arrived to save Caroline. Unfortunately, he missed out on it as Caroline's interference destroyed his portal, forcing him and Hans to flee the area while Blazkowicz is busy dealing with the Queen Geist. Having done enough work on Veil technology, Deathshead constructed a Veil weapon on his large zeppelin and planned to test it on Isenstadt before unleashing it on the Allied Powers. With Hans behind him, Deathshead entered the Black Sun Dimension where the weapon was installed and is greeted by Blazkowicz. Already expecting the American to follow him, Deathshead revealed to Blazkowicz an armored and Veil-empowered Hans and returned to the zeppelin to oversee the weapons test, ordering Hans to kill Blazkowicz. To his shock, not only did he see an alive Blazkowicz emerge from the portal, Deathshead noticed that his enemy had also destroyed the Veil weapon and severely damaged the zeppelin causing it to crash into the castle base in a fiery wreck. While Blazkowicz hoped his archenemy had perished, he had a feeling that the mad doctor survived. Unbeknownst to him, a battered and bruised Deathshead emerged from the zeppelin wreckage and screamed in anger at his failure in the final cutscene. ''The New Order'' Strasse returns in Wolfenstein: The New Order. He is the main antagonist in the game and through the introduction of several inexplicably advanced technology, was responsible for turning the tide of World War II in the Nazis' favor. Strasse is shown to have been badly scarred since his last appearance, likely due to the wounds he sustained from the zeppelin crash. Europe, 1946. World War II rages across Europe. Where once the Allies pressed advantage, the Nazi forces have turned the tide in dramatic fashion behind the technologically advanced war machine of General Wilhelm Strasse -- Deathshead. When a final Allied assault on Deathshead's compound fails, the Allies’ greatest hope falls with it. General Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse, a gifted and devoted researcher, is head of the SS Special Projects Division. Utterly devoid of any moral scruples, the General's experiments in new technology gave the Nazi war machine the edge it needed to win the war and force the world into submission. During the war, Deathshead almost perished in a zepplin crash. This near death experience gave him a fresh outlook on life and he loves every minute of it. 1946 After their seemingly crippling defeat at Isenstadt, Hitler's war machine suddenly gained a tremendous footing in the European Theaters by way of extremely advanced technologies, believed to be the handiwork of Strasse himself. Through the intel gained from Helga von Schabbs' documents, the Allied forces and OSA Command have managed to pinpoint the location of and ordered a siege on Deathshead's Baltic compound. Agent Blazkowicz is sent in as a commanding officer, to be in charge of a strike team which, through Deathshead's many machinations, suffers many casualties as they fought their way into the castle. After an accidental fall into an incinerator, Blazkowicz's squad is captured by Deathshead and his Super Soldiers, where he is forced to choose one of his teammates, either Private Probst Wyatt III or Fergus Reid, to sacrifice to the mad doctor's cruel experiments. Deathshead then takes the one chosen by Blazkowicz and vivisects him on the spot before leaving the others to die an agonizing death. 1960 By 1960, Deathshead has become a revered figure within the Reich, and continues to create more advanced weapons, machines while improving on some of his much older projects, such as the Super Soldiers. After the fall of the London Monitor, his forces manages to storm the Kreisau Circle's headquarters, capturing some of their members, prompting Blazkowicz and the remaining members of the resistance to utilize their captured U-boat and Da'at Yichud technologies to mount a rescue and storm the Baltic fort. At the top of the fort, Deathshead greets his long time nemesis with a disturbing revelation: he had been preserving the brain of the teammate Blazkowicz had him kill years ago in a special device that, when fitted into a Prototype Robot, will grant him a very powerful and intelligent soldier. The robotic menace is unleashed on Blazkowicz, but eventually falls. Irritated, Deathshead hops into an enormous mech and combats B. J. himself. After an intense battle, Blazkowicz manages to defeat Deathshead and stabs him several times before the mad doctor pulls out a hidden grenade and blows himself up. The blast killed Deathshead, but badly mauled Blazkowicz. Personality & Traits Deathshead is known to be a ruthless and sadistic man with no sense of morality, which is reflected in the way he conducts his many experiments (and often times the end results as well). He is also known to be very unethical when it comes to his research and doesn't care what happens to the subject, as long as they yield favorable results. He also enjoys seeing his enemies suffering, as well as writhing in pain from being tortured. Deathshead is as brilliant as he is wicked, with most of the technological advancements displayed by the Nazi Germany regime in the series being attributable to him. Despite his prior defeats, Deathshead is known to never tolerate failure, especially from his own men. Throughout his life, Deathshead has proven to be a very dedicated Nazi and researcher for the Third Reich. He is deeply loyal to the cause and Adolf Hitler, as evident in his many quotes, and like most Nazis believes in the superiority of the Aryan master race. Even at the age of 100, Deathshead's personality has not changed, even in the face of death. Despite his sadistic and amoral nature, Deathshead has also proven to be somewhat cowardice when it comes to his troops or experiments failing him and has known to run from the opposing force before they can either capture or kill him. Like other Nazis, he has shown that he's not always a patient man when it comes to progress. Through their many encounters, it is apparent that Deathshead holds a lot of respect and fascination for his nemesis, especially for Blazkowicz's resolve and tenacity, though being a Nazi, he is not at all pleased when the American agent transgresses on his researches and operations. He at his core is also arrogant and tend to underestimate his enemies, which in most cases have resulted in his downfall and B. J. getting the upper hand. Despite his division's collaborations with the SS Paranormal Division, Deathshead is a non-believer of the occult and the supernatural, asserting himself as a man of science. Military Rankings Throughout his career as a Nazi, Deathshead has been known by many rankings and has achieved various promotions. *'Oberführer' (RtCW) *'Obergruppenführer' (Wolfenstein 2009, Wolfenstein: The New Order) *'Third Reich's Minister of Advanced Research' (Wolfenstein: The New Order) Quotes Trivia *Deathshead is curently the only recurring antagonist of the series. *The name "Deathshead" originated from the officer cap insignia of the SS. Shaped in the image of a skull and crossbones, the symbol was dubbed "Totenkopf", meaning "skull" or "death's head" in German. **Strasse himself prefers the German version over his Allied codename, due to it "not sounding right" in English. *Strasse has some similarities with the Marvel Comics and Captain America villain Red Skull. Both are high ranking Nazi officers, have a skull themed name/alias, develop advanced weapons, and (to vastly different degrees) have a skull like appearance. *Deathshead has had an interesting career in the Wolfenstein games over the years. In his first outing, Deathshead was an SS Oberführer while in the Wolfenstein 2009 he was promoted to a Obergruppenführer (General), albeit with the wrong collar tab insignia (his was that of an Obersturmführer). By the time of The New Order, Herr Deathshead has apparently been transferred from the SS to the Wehrmacht, as his uniform is that of a high ranking army staff officer. It is unknown why this is the case, as screenshots and trailers for the game show other characters (Frau Engel) with SS uniforms. **The reason for this career change appears to be the lack of research into Deathshead's personal history, i.e. the previous installments, by the developers. **It can also be noted that while the soldiers at the start of the game are listed to be Wehrmacht, they all use the SS collar rune. This, combined with the uniforms worn by Deathshead and Frau Engel imply that the Wehrmacht has been absorbed into, or taken over by the SS. * In the French version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein and The New Order, Deathshead is known as 'Le Boucher' (The Butcher) although his real name, Wilhelm, remains the same. *Deathshead is almost always seen wearing his signature monocle, though it only has a brief appearance in The New Order, being featured only on some of his paintings and during the short period of time where he is about to vivisect Private Wyatt/Fergus Reid. ''Return to Castle Wolfenstein'' *According to the Return to Castle Wolfenstein manual, he is based on Doctor Schabbs. He has much in common with him: both are doctors who are very scientifically educated and both have developed ultimate creations; Strasse's technological brainchild is the Übersoldat and Schabbs' biological masterpiece is the Übermutant. ''Wolfenstein'' *In Wolfenstein, Strasse's name is alternately spelled "Strauss". This is a mistake in the 2009 game; Strauss and Strasse are very different names with different meanings. *The insignia on his collar in Wolfenstein lists him incorrectly as an Obersturmführer (Lieutenant) instead of an Obergruppenführer (General). *In the last mission of Wolfenstein, it's possible to chase and shoot him, though he cannot be killed. *During the mission Castle, Strasse has a painting of himself in the dining hall, rather than one of Hitler. This seems to indicate that he views himself higher than the Führer. In a letter to Heinrich Himmler in RtCW Strasse mentions Heinrich being misled by individuals whose mental competence must be called into question, which is likely to be Hitler however in the new order there are references to him being loyal to Hitler. ''The New Order'' *Deathshead wears a mechanic's overall over his uniform, implying that he spends more time creating war machines and weapons than leading troops. *According to the Wolfenstein: The New Order website, Deathshead is 100 years old in 1960. As he does not seem to have aged at all since Blazkowicz last encountered him in 1946, it is likely that he had invented a method of slowing or stopping his aging process entirely. **This would mean Strasse was 83 years old during Return to Castle Wolfenstein ''and ''Wolfenstein, and 86 during Wolfenstein: The New Order's prologue. *During his final batle, Deathshead yells "Die, allied schweinehund!" at Blazkowicz. This is a throwback to Mecha Hitler in Wolfenstein 3D, who used the same quote and fought Blazkowicz in a quad-chaingunned power armor. *Deathshead appears to have become a leading Nazi figure since their victory in the war due to the fact he is personally involved in many major projects (Both civilian and military) such as the London Nautica and the Lunar Base. * Deathshead is featured in all of The New Order's loading screens. * During Chapter 13, "Lunar Base", as the player exits the space shuttle into the arrivals lobby, an audio speech by Deathshead can be heard where he says that he is the Minister of Advanced Research. * According to his dialogue, he preferred to dissect Wyatt over Fergus, but will go with the latter with an equal level of glee if chosen by Blazkowicz. Gallery ''Return to Castle Wolfenstein'' Wilhelm_Strasse.jpg Deatshead_in_SWF.JPG|Wilhelm Strasse in the Secret Weapons Facility. strasser_xlabs.png|Strasse in his X-lab. ''Wolfenstein'' Wolfenstein-Strasse.png|Wilhelm Strasse in the Veil. Wolfenstein-Strasse 2.png|Wilhelm Strasse with Hans Grosse holding Caroline Becker, confronting Blazkowicz in the Castle of Isenstadt. Wolfenstein-Strasse 3.png|Wilhelm Strasse in the Black Sun Dimension. ''Wolfenstein: The New Order'' Boss.jpg|Deathshead inside his own Mechanical Powered Armor. 573025.png|Wilhelm Strasse with an UberSoldat. Deathshead.jpg WtNO Deathshead.jpg Deathshead2.png|Deathshead in 1946. General-Deathshead-Wolfenstein-The-New-Order-Villains-Concept-Art-640x1024.jpg|Concept art of Deathshead in The New Order. References es:Wilhelm Strasse fr:Wilhelm Strasse nl:Wilhelm Strasse Category:Characters Category:Return to Castle Wolfenstein characters Category:Wolfenstein characters Category:The New Order characters Category:Nazis Category:Bosses Category:The New Order bosses Category:Wolfenstein: The New Order Category:Wolfenstein enemies Category:The New Order enemies